count on me (i'll be there)
by Cynthia03
Summary: I made a new year's resolution to be better at showing the people I love how much I care…but now all I want to do is kiss you. Set after the gang returns from Neverland. None of that Pan coming to SB happened. They all just came back and were adjusting.
1. Chapter 1

_New Year, New Me._ Emma hates this cheesy, over-used, and quite frankly tacky line. Within the first few days of January she has seen it freaking _everywhere –_ in TV commercials with "healthy" yogurts, on the radio with jockeys reminding everyone of their new years' resolution, and even on Facebook statuses of people she didn't give two shits about.

Most of those annoying New Year's resolutions she has seen have to do with weight loss, or ditching an unhealthy addiction, or some very few people with the 'spend more time with family' promises. But unlike them all, Emma has a quite simple resolution:

 _Show people (even if I hate them) how much I care and value their presence in my life._

Taking out a writing pad from the desk in the Sheriff office, she grabbed a pen and titled it in capital letters, _PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT (EVEN IF SOME OF THEM ARE A PAIN IN MY APPARENTLY ROYAL ASS)_ , and quickly after scribbling a "1." writes down _Henry Mills._

He's the most obvious and easiest one to show. Her darling boy would be happy if only she took him to Granny's, then got him an ice-cream, and spent some time reading the fairytale book.

The others, however, were much trickier.

Since coming from the godforsaken island of Neverland, the town has been surprisingly quaint; living up to it's small town reputation. Of course as Sheriff she is still pretty busy as after all it's a town full of fairytale characters who have grudges double her age, and the patience and understanding of toddlers. Scratch that, she's sure the toddlers have _much_ more grace and acceptance of everyone else and this new world than the grown-ups do.

Yet, with her having spent some actual quality time with her parents – the three of them growing much closer as Emma voiced her anxiety about _finally_ having parents and how weird it all feels (especially since they're freaking Snow White and Prince Charming and the same age as her), they've been quite understanding and let her have her space when she needs it, but are also there when they know she's pushing them away.

She jotted down her parents name, another obvious choice.

She's also reached an agreement, and dare she say, almost friendly relationship with Regina, her once quite nefarious archnemesis. Henry divides his time between the two of them as he pleases, and Regina has now _not_ begrudgingly but quite openly accepted Emma's role in Henry's life. They've even had lunch together quite a few times with Henry and sometimes Snow joining them in. Emma might even consider them on friendly terms now.

Regina Mills is added to the list as well.

Gold is…quiet these days. All his time being spent with Neal and Belle. The one good thing coming out of seeing Neal on a daily basis is that arguably the most powerful man in the town is tame and quiet these days – a trait which she believes should also be heavily credited to Belle and her ability to love the man so fiercely despite his flaws. A few days ago Gold actually said 'thank you' to her when she let him take Henry out for picnic with him, Belle, and Neal.

Neal is okay. She did end up going on a date with him to Granny's during a lunch break – nothing special. Sure she laughed and smiled as Neal was always a funny and charming man, but the _thing_ wasn't there. She supposes if she tried to force her brain to view him abandoning her as a sacrifice she could maybe love him again, but the thing is she can't and honestly she doesn't want to. She agrees with the fact that he was in a difficult position but loving someone means you don't hurt them – and not only did he hurt her in that moment, but he hurt her in every moment since then. His shadow was always lingering over her whenever another man ever showed any interest in her, and was prominently lingering whenever she actually had an interest in any potential boyfriends. It was there when she once had a pregnancy scare with a man she was trying to learn how to love – sending her running to another freaking state even after the test was negative. It was even there when she came to this strange town trying to figure shit out and protect her son and her friend.

It was even there when she was locking up a pirate on top of a beanstalk despite every nerve of her body telling her not to.

After a little fight, and then a heart-to-heart conversation, Emma had acknowledged that Neal was going to be part in Henry's life (despite Regina's utter annoyance with it), but it meant _nothing_ for them. They could learn to be friends, slowly.

She jotted down Belle French, and a bit unwillingly, Gold and Neal.

Apart from ex-boyfriends and evil masters, she's even getting warmer to the Dwarfs. Sure Happy makes her want to tear her hair out, and sometimes Leroy's loud voice and his constant complaining makes her want to strangle him, and them calling her "Princess Emma of Misthaven" for the first week back from Neverland was the most annoying thing ever – she does loves it when they call her 'sister' now just as they do to Mary Margaret and although they come to her with _every single problem_ that they have, they also do constantly ask of her well-being and try to keep the _bastardly pirate_ away from her.

(They don't know that she actually _likes_ having the _dastardly_ pirate around.)

She jots the Dwarves down.

And so coming to the pirate – the handsome and infuriatingly supportive pirate who likes to tease her until she smiles, and looks at her with those blue eyes that reveal much more than his tongue (yet) dares emote, and the constant understanding he offers to her when she shies away from his advances, or sometimes even just _talks_.

Everything is going fine with him except that Emma just keeps waiting. She wonders if the promise he made to her in Neverland, the whispered words of _winning hearts_ and _until I met you_ and all was false. Or just a fragment of her imagination, or if she heard him wrong?

(He was standing _so_ close to her that her judgment was clouded a bit in the moment.)

Because despite a month almost coming to an end since all of _that_ , he's remained a respectful distance away from her.

He still, of course, answers at once to her call for help and is always there, but his innuendoes are far more infrequent, his habit of invading her personal space is forgotten, and Emma might not be the best at the practice of _courtship_ , but it sure as hell is not this.

But he has become more emotional – or rather more open. Its as if all his bravado, quips, smolders, and especially the double meaning and sometimes downright lewd things he's said was just a mask he wore, associated with the monicker of Captain Hook. She suspects the man she's seeing these days – the blushing, self-depreciating, helpful, and of all things, _kind_ – person is perhaps what Killian Jones is, the name and identify of him forgotten and erased but those traits very much still alive and becoming apparent how his job has now become "help anyone who needs it."

When Emma had panicked the week of landing back to Storybrooke about him leaving, he had soothed her worry by claiming that he had a _substantial_ wealth and would like to stay and explore this new realm. When she had caught herself smiling brightly at that, half in relief and half in absolute delight, she jokingly warned him about 'staying in his lane' and 'not causing any trouble' to which he'd winked at her and answered with a 'no promises, Sheriff'.

But he had and still is staying away from trouble. And from her. Instead, he's offering his free services to help out whoever needs it – he brings the lost boys on his ship for an excursion, helps David at the animal shelter, agrees to come as a _guest lecturer_ in Mary Margaret's class talking about _Travelling and Cultures_ , helps Regina out with paperwork and planning of certain new amenities as he believes it is quite similar to planning military plans, and once has now even regularly started helping out no one other than Belle French-Gold (yeah, that happened too) in the library, both of them forming a new and weird friendship, much to Gold's utter annoyance.

She hasn't yet let him help her. Not because she hasn't needed it, or because she's too proud. But because every interaction with him leaves her wanting so much _more_ , wanting to just…do something to him and she really cannot do it, not just for her own safety but also as now she's not so sure whether he still wants her.

(She ignores the voice inside her head which tells her she's being ridiculous and she knows it.)

So despite him being someone she actually sort-of-might-of-kind-of more than _just_ care about, she's not sure she'd want to show that to him.

Being a coward, she doesn't write his name on it and after folding the list, keeps it in her pocket.

(He doesn't even need to quite be on the list as he is slowly and frighteningly becoming one of the people she cares quite a bit about.)

(Writing it down won't change that when her heart and mind know it.)

~~xx~~

 _PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT (EVEN IF SOME OF THEM ARE A PAIN IN MY APPARENTLY ROYAL ASS)_ _or BASICALLY PEOPLE I PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO DIE_ :

1\. Henry Mills

2\. Mary Margaret Blanchard (Nolan?)/Snow White

3\. David Nolan/Prince Charming

4\. Regina Mills

5\. Belle French

6\. Neal Cassidy

7\. Gold

8\. Dwarves

9\. Granny

~~xx~~

 _Henry Mills_

It's so easy with him.

All she has to do is suggest ice-cream and his face is brightening up like someone announced Christmas came early. After purchasing a sundae each, they head towards his favorite castle, both of them choosing to sit on a swing each.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Henry finally asks, watching her with his _judge-y_ eyes.

"Why do you think that?"

He rolls his eyes, "Mom-" And it still makes her heart flutter and a sort of peace comes over her whenever he calls her that – "I know a bribe when I see one."

She laughs, "It's not a bribe. More like a…thank you."

"Thank you? For what?"

"Well for bringing me here. And believing in me so fiercely – no one has done that before." She smiles, bringing her hand up to ruffle his hair, "If you hadn't, I never would've met my family, never would've met _you_."

He smiles brightly at first but then suddenly his smile drops, a hurt evident in his eyes, "But I thought you hated being the Saviour."

"Well, I don't _hate_ it. It's annoying sometimes, I guess, as I don't get to get a day off and all, but it brought me to you and that's all that matters."

He wraps his arms around her and whispers against her chest, "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too."

~~xx~~

 _Mary Margaret/Mom_

She decides to give her mom her entire day, telling David she won't be coming in and he's more than happy to take over her shift as well if she's spending that time with Mary Margaret.

She cooks breakfast for her – nothing special just scrambled eggs and sausages, and for a moment Emma wonders if she should have at least cooked pancakes but the surprised and downright gleeful look Mary Margret gives her once she learns that it's all for her, makes that detail seem irrelevant.

Once they've finished the breakfast over some small chat, Emma asks her mom what she'd like to do for the rest of the day. Mary Margaret gives her a look as if she wants to ask but then changes her mind and instead asks to go to for a walk in the forest, quickly scurrying over to grab her hiking books.

/

As Emma rubs the mud off from her boots on a patch of grass, she remembers exactly why she fucking hates trekking through the forest. She looks ahead at her mom – a bow and arrows slung around her shoulders, her eyes scanning their surroundings, and her ears perked up to hear any strange noise, looking much the same as she did when they were both trapped in the Enchanted Forest. It's a quite contrasting image to the Mary Margaret that Emma knew and befriended as she would be in her flowing dresses probably picking out flowers.

Nevertheless she follows her, assessing and scrutinizing her mother's ( _oh god this is still so weird)_ movements. Mary Margaret suddenly stops in front of a giant tree, the bottom of it open to reveal a sort of a cave. She hesitantly touches the wood, mapping the lines in the tree with her hands.

"Um?" Emma asks, walking to stand beside her, confused with all of this.

Once she notices the little opening at the root of the tree and the wistful look in her mother's eyes, she understands. Taking a deep breath she starts, "I know you did what you had to do."

Mary Margaret smiles softly, the tears brimming her eyelids now, "Giving you up was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"I know." And she does. She gave up her baby too; she knows the pain all too well.

"Sorry this tree just looked like the one Gepetto and Blue made for you," Mary Margaret takes a step back, dropping her hand from the branches and circling her bow instead.

"I know, we saw it." The Enchanted Forest adventure seems so far away now that they just came back from Neverland, and had fought Cora before in Storybrooke. It was quite surreal for Emma; to learn in a moment that all the stories were true, to learn she's the Saviour, to meet her parents, and to then suddenly be transported away in a foreign magical land. And to meet even more fictional characters like Mulan, Aurora, Lancelot, and Hook. And _oh my god_ Hook – anyways—

"So where are we going?" Emma asks, changing the topic as she does not want to spend her day with her friend, oops, _mom_ , crying.

"Here actually," Mary Margaret deposits her arrows down on the ground, "I just thought I could teach you how to shoot an arrow. And we could take it all off on this tree which looks eerily same as the one you came to this world from."

Emma's mouth hangs open, "Um, you want me to shoot arrows?"

"Hmm." Mary Margaret smiles widely, preparing her stance and hoisting an arrow on the string, explaining directions to Emma who listens intently but also with a nervous and unbelieving frown.

In an instance the arrow hits the branch of the tree, digging in deep. Emma's seen Mary Margaret shoot an ogre, shoot to deflect Lost boys and all but watching this still makes her eyes pop out in shock as this is after all the soft and cute Mary Margaret, but is also her quite badass mother who has perfectionated this skill.

"Come on," Mary Margaret suddenly takes hold of her, pulling her until she's standing in her position.

"Shoot."

~~xx~~

Turns out, whereas punching things and wielding swords like her father is definitely in her blood, archery is definitely _not_ so. Nonetheless, they laugh and tease and fall as Mary Margaret attempts to teach Emma the skill.

By the end of the day when they're back home, all sweaty and tired, and David has welcomed them with some fresh lemonade, Mary Margaret finally asks the question. "Do you think you would ever call me _mom_?"

Emma almost chokes on her lemonade at the question – something she has avoided thinking about as she honestly still doesn't know if Storybrooke is even _it_. But – "I think I would eventually. I just need some time." She explains, "I mean everything has happened so quickly, I just need time to process it all."

"Of course," Mary Margaret smiles widely, her eyes drifting to her husband in the kitchen who is pretending as if he isn't listening but by the tilt of his lips Emma _knows_ he is.

"I had fun today, Emma. We should do it more often." She reaches across the table to take her hand, squeezing it gently.

Emma's phone vibrates, indicating that Henry is waiting for her downstairs so she gets up and grabs her bag.

Just as she's exiting the door she answers back, "I had fun too, even if I can't feel my arms anymore."

And she still hasn't really in explicit terms told Mary Margaret about the entire _I care about you_ ordeal and she _knows_ saying this will mean the world to her so just as she's leaving she says –

"And yeah we should do it again…mom."

~~xx~~

 _David Nolan_

"I'll take your shifts for the morning so you can spend some time with Mary Margaret," Emma tells him the night before, not wanting to think about exactly what they would be utilizing that extra time for as she's still pretty traumatized with the entire taco's incident.

"Emma you don't hav-"

"I want to, okay? You guys haven't had much time together since we came back from Neverland."

David smiles then. He lifts his hand as if he wants to pat her head but drops it last minute, instead just offering her a genuine grin and a heartfelt _thanks_.

/

Of course David being David still shows up at the station just two hours after the start of the day, and tells Emma how he utilized that time to make Mary Margaret breakfast in bed.

She just rolls her eyes when she mentions that he's four hours too early but he quietly sits beside her, taking some of the dreadfully boring paperwork out from her hands.

Dropping a file on the table, David speaks, "It's been really quiet I must sa-"

The ringing of the bell cuts off the rest of his words and Emma sighs, "Looks like you spoke too soon."

After conversing on the phone for a solid minute and promising the quite scared man on the phone that _yes_ she will check out who is trying to drill a hole near the troll bridge, she turns towards David, "Someone may or may not be burying a dead body. Down for the ride?"

David just grabs his holster from his table as he follows her outside.

/

Emma spots the figure in the woods, an oversized black suit covering them from head to toe, hiding their identity as they keep digging a hole near a big rock. She motions David to take out his gun and cover her while she's going to do something extremely reckless and kind of stupid by jumping this person from behind.

She tip toes as close as she can and then takes off in a sprint, the person in question turning at the sound of scrunching leaves behind and Emma wants to stop as soon as she spots his face and hears the _Bloody hell_ but her speed is too much and before she knows it, she's crashing into him using all of her weight.

He falls on his back with a loud thump with Emma sprawled above him, his hand for some reason coming to protect _her_ head as if she wasn't the one who probably gave him a concussion from the force with which she jumped him and made his head hit the ground.

"Swan?" he croaks out, his eyebrows twitched together in confusion as he looks up at her. She notices the way his eyes linger around her eyes, before glancing down at her lips. Her own hands are clutching the lapel of his sack-like thing he's wearing and suddenly she's quite aware of all the different ways and places they're pressed up against each other.

"Hook. What are you doing?" She asks, not even quite aware (or caring) that she's still sprawled all over him, their faces inches apart.

He opens his mouth to answer but only then she subconsciously lick her lips, his eyes then being distracted with that movement and his words being lost instantly as he manages to get his body under control as this would all lead to him just embarrassing himself in front of the lass.

A loud cough followed with David's terse _Hook_ makes Emma come back to her senses and she immediately shuffles back on her feet, not even offering him her arm to get up. She brushes the leaves away from her jacket and turns towards him with a questioning glare when she notices that he's staring.

"Um…you have some," he points towards her hair, his fingers coming quite close to touching where some dried leaves are stuck in her golden curls. She quickly picks them out, her cheeks burning red for quite no reason.

"Who are you burying?" She asks then, needing to change the topic and focus.

"Pardon me?" Hook looks confused, his eyes darting between hers and David's who just watches them with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Whose dead body are you burying?"

Hook smiles at that, Emma forcing her gaze to _not_ notice the way his eyes crinkle on the sides slightly or the deep dimples on his cheeks as he does so, "What makes you think that?"

"The fact that you are literally pounding that shovel into the ground?" She gestures lazily towards the square being dug out.

He looks like he wants to say something so not appropriate but David steps forward then, "What is that?" He points towards a sort of chest resting behind a rock.

Hook sighs audibly, "Ah well, I guess I have to comply with the law enforcement."

"You better." Emma mutters, following him as he directs the duo towards the chest.

"This is what I was burying, well hiding." He frowns, "Appears not so discreetly."

"What's in it?"

"It's a bloody chest." He quirks an eyebrow as if she's missing the obvious point. People just don't carry around big-ass brown chests that are found underground. It's usually either divers who've found some treasure or pirates –

Right –

"Is that where all of your treasure is?" She asks, a hint of genuine interest in her tone.

"Well not _all_. Just enough for comfortable travelling."

"Open it." She demands and _no_ she totally does not just want to see what a pirate chest even has. Totally not. This is strictly business.

"Not that I've had many run ins with the law, love, but I'm quite certain without some sort of written assent, authorities are not quite allowed to demand citizens to reveal their personal property."

"Well what do you say, you're _not_ a citizen. Open it."

"I'm afraid not so, love."

"Hook. Open it or I will be forced to seize it." She crosses her arms in front of her, jutting her chin out as if daring him to disobey her.

He stares at her for a while and then smirks, "As you wish, m'lady."

She ignores the warmth she feels in her cheeks at those words as she is transported back to their kiss again, and _no_ of course he has not ever seen _Princess Bride_ so no way does he know the kind of emotion those three little words would evoke inside her.

She watches in fascination as he detaches his hook from his brace, and kneels in front of the chest. With a wink towards her, he inserts his hook in the opening of the chest and clicks it in some sort of pattern. Once a loud clank is heard, he retrieves his hook and clicks it back on his brace, Emma and even David watching the entire process in fascination.

"Shall I or would you like to do the honors?" he steps back, coming to stand beside Emma as he gestures towards his chest.

Her brain is a jumbled mess of conflicting emotions in the moment – she knows she should be the one to open it as she learned during her time as a bails bond person that there might be some sort of weapon the person can use, but then she _highly_ doubts Hook would attack her. And then also she wants to have that dramatic music, bright lights, and slow-motion 'opening a pirate chest' moment so she just nods at him, tucking her gun away in her back pocket.

David mumbles a quick "Be careful" to her as he stands behind her, forcing Hook to shove off on the side.

Emma kneels on the ground, grabbing the sides of the chest and with a quick deep breath, lifts the heavy top of it, a little gasp of excitement leaving her lips as she reveals the contents of the chest.

There are some jewels definitely, more than just _some_ quite honestly. But more interestingly, there are many books, the yellowed papers of them meaning they are probably from the earlier days of his 300 year old existence. She moves her hands to go pick a book up but retrieves it immediately – she doesn't know the procedure to touch such an old book, or even if Hook would allow her to.

But the she feels his hook nudge her shoulder slightly, "Go on, love. Investigate _properly_."

She smirks at that, not daring to even look at him as there's no way he would not see the way her face lit up at that encouragement. She picks the book up lightly, blowing air on it to remove the dust on it and reveal the title.

 _The Most Excellent Ways To Sail A Royal Vessel and A Captain's Utmost Responsibilities_ by _Liam Jones_

"Your brother?" David asks from behind her, gently taking the book from Emma's hands.

"Aye," Killian answers, slightly touched that David remembers.

"So you really were part of the Royal Navy, huh?"

"I told you, mate." Killian rolls his eyes.

"You just don't seem the type."

"Aye, well turns out 300 years really do change a person's character."

"I doubt it," Emma interjects, making Killian snap his head towards her, "If you were truly a pirate and not I guess a _good_ guy, whatever the hell that even means, you wouldn't have come to Neverland with us or saved David's life."

His face softens for an instance before he's clenching his jaw and putting his cocky mask back on, "I didn't do it for the _hero_ status, darling."

Later Emma will think about what was even transpiring in her mind to ever mutter these words to him, and that too in front of her father, but in this moment she could care less about anything because she's so _frustrated_ , "I doubt you did it for me or else you wouldn't be ignoring me instead of _courting_ me or whatever since we came back."

Hook takes a step back, his jaw hanging open for a moment before he schools his features and says, "I'm not ignoring you."

Emma rolls her eyes, "Right, whatever." She turns on her heels then – her cheeks burning and she just wants to cry out in frustration and embarrassment – "Just don't make false promises you can't keep, okay."

"Emma," Hook moves, his fingers brushing against her jacket but she just moves forward and turns towards her father, "You coming? Just seems like a pirate trying to hide his treasure, nothing serious."

David looks as if he wishes the ground would just open and swallow him whole but then he hands Hook his brother's book and clasps him on his shoulder slightly before following an irate Emma out of the forest.

/

"That was uncalled for, you know?" David says once they're at Granny's for a late lunch.

Emma drops the onion ring she was just about to eat and snaps her head towards her father in exasperation, "You're blaming me?"

"He didn't say anything wrong."

"Wow," Emma shakes her head in disapproval, "You're taking his side."

"I'm not taking any sides." David clarifies, "Listen, Emma. Ugh I'm going to regret saying this but just listen to me for one second, okay?"

Emma raises her hands in defeat and asks him to continue.

"So you and Hook, um, kissed in Neverland. And that's okay, I mean not okay but whatever, you're a grown woman and your mother told me I'm not allowed to be upset about that. But anyways, your mother and I just want you to be happy."

Emma wishes to deny everything he just said but waits; after all this day is supposed to be about her showing him that she cares and some fatherly advice would be appreciated.

"We're not saying, well _I'm_ not saying – and don't tell this to your mother – that you need love in your life to be happy but love is a beautiful thing and it does make your life much more exciting and wonderful. We now know that you are not interested in Neal as you rightfully shouldn't be after all you told us about him, but Emma-"

He turns silent for a moment as if searching the right way to say this.

"I've never met a more honorable pirate than Hook."

Emma stays silent for a moment as words escape her, the implication of what her father is trying to tell her clear as day. It's not that she doesn't know what he's saying is correct, or doubts Hook's intentions, but his distance from her this last month does make her a bit insecure. And then of course Neal is a walking example she has to see everyday of just why exactly she can't trust Hook with her heart, or open up to him.

"Don't tell Hook I said that."

A laugh escapes her at that, David also then grinning at the sudden change of mood as Emma loses herself in laughing with her father.

So when David offers her his arm as they're exiting Granny's, she gladly takes it and smiles up to him before she promises, "I'll try to live in the moments and will think about…stuff."

"Good." David smiles before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

~~xx~~

 _Regina Mills_

Emma should've known that the moment she called Regina to ask her to meet her for lunch, the woman would go into panic mode and ask her a million questions about the safety of their son, her parents, and the town before calming down. As Emma pops the question, she's met with a short and awkward pause before Regina hangs up saying "Anywhere but Granny's and her greasy food."

So that's how she finds herself sitting at some cute salad café near the docks, digging into probably the biggest salad bowl she's ever had.

"What is this meeting regarding, Miss Swan?" Regina asks, sipping on her expensive red wine.

"I think you can drop the _Miss_ now Regina." Emma rolls her eyes, "And nothing, can't I just invite you for lunch?"

"Are you running away from Storybrooke and asking me if you can take Henry with you cause I swear to God Miss Swan I will hunt you down no matt-"

"God Regina no!" Emma clanks her fork down, taking a few deep breaths before continuing as this is so _not_ why she invited Regina out for lunch.

"I don't quite understand the purpose of this meeting then. You're already Sheriff, your parents are alive, you have Henry, and have that pirate pining after you, what else could you possibly need?"

Emma sighs, rubbing the palms of her hand on her forehead as this was _such_ a bad idea. Doing this with her parents and Henry was fine and easy as they were family and understood her but Regina was –

\- What was Regina?

"Friend." Emma blurts out.

"What?"

"I just thought you and I could be, I don't know, friends maybe?"

"You want to be friends? With _me_?" If it wasn't for the slight waver in Regina's voice at the end, Emma might have even laughed at the look of utter disbelief on her face.

"Yeah. Crazy, right?" Emma shrugs, "I mean, I love Henry and my parents but they don't quite understand what it is like to be…rejected the way I did, the way you do."

Emma watches in shock (and a bit of intrigue) as Regina drops her fork and blinks her eyes a few times, looking anywhere but at her, "I've never really had a friend."

"Yeah, me neither." Emma softens, "I mean, I once did but she betrayed me and yeah it doesn't matter."

"Well, I spent a whole lot of time trying to kill one of my only friends until quite recently, and sent you to slay my other friend."

"The dragon?"

"Maleficent. She's fine; she's always had a penchant for being overdramatic."

"You…have your friend locked in the mines?" Emma asks suspiciously.

Regina smiles the littlest smiles at that, "Are you afraid I will try to kill you Miss Swan?"

"Well, you have tried." Emma shrugs, offering her a grin to make sure she knows that she's joking.

"Well, I don't _want_ to kill you _now_." Regina smirks slightly, "And not just cause Henry would never forgive me."

"That's a start."

"I guess that it is." Regina lifts her wine glass, titling it slightly towards Emma, who picks her own glass up and clinks it with hers, both women smiling.

Who thought the daughter of Snow White, the Saviour, could end up being friends with the Evil Queen?

~~xx~~


	2. Chapter 2

_Belle_ _French_

Emma shows up the library during one of her lunch breaks, a tray of a go-to cup of tea and hot-chocolate, and two muffins from Granny's in her hands as she sets about to look for Belle. She hears voices coming from the back of the library so sets about to check it out and the view that greets her almost has her dropping the tray.

Belle, Hook, and Neal are all sitting cross-legged on the floor with more than a dozen books scattered around them, Belle smiling up at Emma kindly, while both Hook and Neal look as if they've been caught with their hands down the cookie jar.

"Um, hi?" Emma smiles at them all, waving with the hand that has the muffins in her hand. She understands Belle and Neal hanging out together but does not understand what Hook could possibly be doing with them all. Neal and Hook have definitely made up, and once in a while she does catch Hook and Belle chatting very briefly, but never imagined them all willingly hanging out for a prolonged time.

"Hey." Neal smiles at her, his eyes checking her out from head to toe and she needs to talk to him about stop doing this.

Nodding at Neal, her gaze transfers to Hook, who's awkwardly looking between her and Neal. When he meets her gaze, he nods, "Hello, love."

"What brings you here, Emma?" Belle interrupts their staring match.

"Are those muffins?" Neal asks, pointing towards the Granny's bag in her hand.

"Yeah. I brought a muffin and tea for you Belle." She looks at the woman, "I just thought we could…talk?"

"Oh is everything alright?" Belle stands up, concern evident in her voice.

And for god's sake people need to stop worrying that something is _wrong_ whenever she mentions just hanging out with them.

"Oh yeah I just thought we could, um, catch up?" Emma raises a shoulder in question, putting on a hopefully convincing smile.

"Oooh that is your uncomfortable smile. What are you up to, Ems?" Neal winks at her, taking the bags of muffins from her, and asking Belle, "Mind sharing?"

Emma glares at Neal; she _hates_ being called Ems and she's told him that a million times. Also, the muffin was _just_ for her and Belle thank you very much.

Ignoring Emma's glare, Neal cuts both of the muffins in halves, giving one to Belle, and offering one to Hook who just shakes his head and uses his hook to scratch behind his ear, "I think I should bugger off."

" _No._ " Emma yelps, surprised at the ferocity by which she said it. To soften the blow, and to not seem as some desperate high schooler who just wants to see and talk to her crush _all the time_ , she adds, "Neal already cut the muffins, might as well have them."

Hook gives her a weird look but then finds himself soon in an arm lock with Belle who is dragging him along to the table in the middle of the library, the other two following the duo.

Once everyone has taken their seats, their halves of muffins in their hands, Belle asks, "How are you, Emma? The town has thankfully been villain-free for more than a month now!"

"I'm fine." Emma smiles, "Apart from Happy making _daily_ calls to the station for the littlest things, everything is quiet. It's nice."

"Good. You deserve a break; you've been running around since you came here!" Belle extends her hand, taking Emma's in her own and squeezing it lightly; Emma startled at the genuine affection but welcomes it.

"Well a lot of it is thanks to you. Gold has been quiet now too." She shrugs and adds a little smile so Belle knows that she's just joking. Mostly. (A bit.)

Belle laughs, "That credit goes to Neal as Rumple only does what Neal wants. And also to Hook for not wanting to kill him anymore."

Hook visibly stiffens, his jaw clenching a few times before he offers a smile to everyone, his eyes downcast. "Glad to be of service."

"I'm sure it isn't easy," Emma says, her gaze on the side of Killian's head, "Wanting revenge for 300 years and then just stopping suddenly."

"Aye," Hook laughs self-depreciatingly, "Makes me wonder if I'm insulting Milah's memory sometimes."

"I doubt it," Neal interjects, Hook's head snapping towards him, "I don't remember much of my mom, but she wasn't a revengeful person."

A look of discomfort flickers on Neal's face and Emma wonders if she's supposed to soothe him for it or not – they're exes who are never _ever_ getting back, but she still (kind of) cares for the guy.

"Papa did kill her so I guess in the end he was the bad guy. And anyways, I think that when you love someone and even if they're not in your life anymore, if they truly loved you, they'd just want you to be happy." Neal nods, and then suddenly looks at Emma, "Right?"

Emma's cheeks turn red in embarrassment as everyone turns to look at her. Her first instinct is to make a snappy comment and leave, but those days are behind her and now she's learning to be nice and friendly (not that she always wasn't – but she just never let herself be that way.) Still, not knowing what the hell to even be saying as is this Neal trying to tell her that he just wants her to be happy genuinely, or is it him trying to seem like a sweetheart but this to actually be a 'win her back' kind of trick; she's not sure.

She doesn't know if Hook has picked up on her uncomfortableness or is just genuinely curious but the attention diverts towards him as he points his hook towards her drink and asks, "What is that?"

When she turns to look at him, there's a knowing look in his eyes and she knows that he picked up on her uneasiness and saved her ass.

"Hot chocolate," she takes a sip then, "Didn't Henry make you try some at Granny's Christmas party?"

The Christmas Party was well _something_. Almost the entire town had shown up, huddled up in big jackets and warm scarves. The dwarves had all cut a big tree from somewhere in the woods and left it at the town square. Sneezy had been injured trying to put some lights on it, while Leroy had pushed Doc so badly in his annoyance with the lights that it had ended up with all 7 of the dwarves in jail for the night. Finally, an annoyed Regina had shocked everyone by using magic to decorate the tree, a fancy myriad of lights, bells, and even ornaments. She had smiled brightly at Henry when he had hugged her for it, but glared at everyone else to dare say anything about her kind act, and had rolled her eyes when Mary Margaret had still praised her for it. Hook had shown up along with the lost boys, all of them looking lost as to the meaning behind the tree, the red and green sweaters, and the gifts everyone was giving to everyone.

When Hook had spotted Emma by herself near the backdoor of Granny's, he silently stood beside her, "Quite an odd celebration, I must say."

Emma had smiled, "Yeah." She took a sip of her hot chocolate, "Never actually celebrated it this grandly."

Hook nodded in understanding, knowing all too well what it meant not having a family for most of your life. At least he had Liam who tried his very best to give him everything; Emma had no one.

"As I've gathered from this evening, some sort of gift is expected to be given to people you may care about?" he whispered the last of the words a bit hesitantly.

"Kinda." Emma shrugged, turning so her back was resting on the wall as she regarded him. He was scratching behind his ear again, his nervousness becoming oblivious.

"What?" She smiled, eyeing him up as she'd never seen him quite that nervous.

"Well following in tradition with this realm's holiday," he looked up at her finally, "I've taken the liberty of getting you something."

Emma's cheeks turned red instantly – from shyness or embarrassment that she didn't get him anything, she didn't know. She'd spent 29 Christmases on her own – sometimes she'd get a gift from a foster parent which was usually something bought from dollarama and sometimes she was lucky enough even to get dinner that night. Last year, Mary Margaret and Henry had gotten her gifts and this year as well, but she wasn't surprised by them. There was no way the lovely and overly-considerate Mary Margaret and her son who just has so much love to give would not have gotten anything for her.

But a 300-year-old pirate getting her a gift was quite unexpected.

Hook procured the item from one of his many pockets of the pirate coat and presented it to her. Emma's eyebrows twitched in confusion as she stared at the parchment rolled up and tied with a ribbon in his hand. It looked familiar but she couldn't really place it so she took it and untied the ribbon. As the paper unfurled and revealed the word written on the bottom, Emma snapped her head up to him, "Is this…?"

She looked back down at it and softly thumbed the _Emma_ still etched on it in squid writing.

"Aye. After you had bested Cora and I, Cora had returned to the cell to investigate how the four of you had escape a jail cell from which Rumpelstiltskin himself failed to have escaped. That's when she found this parchment and realized your name had been written on it multiple times using squid ink."

"And you kept it?" She bit her lip, a sudden unknown emotion surging through her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to cry at this or throw herself to him. The stupid pirate kept a paper which had her name written on it. It was truly some romantic sappy shit.

(But then she also has the scarf he'd used to mend her wound on the beanstalk, securely kept in her drawer at the station.)

"Aye" his cheeks turned red, "Didn't feel right disposing off such an important parchment. I thought you might want it – it was what got you back to your lad and it will also serve as a a constant reminder that your name is so powerful that Rumpelstiltskin etched it repeatedly."

"Thank you." Emma took his hand, and squeezed it, "I will treasure it."

"I'm glad." He smiled, his thumb coming over her hand to make small circles.

"I didn't get you anything though. I feel terrible now."

"How about you buy me one of those concoctions everyone here seems to be enjoying?" He raised an eyebrow and Emma could see the hint of flirtation.

"You got it."

(The next day, one of the lost boys who had become a delivery man delivered Hook a box with a red ribbon and a note attached to it.

 _It's called a cell phone. While squid ink is quite effective to get out of danger, calling someone using this might be more. If you need help figuring it out, Henry and I will be getting lunch at Granny's - join us._

 _Merry Christmas, Killian._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Emma._ )

(The first contact Emma and Henry had helped him save over lunch was of _Swan_.)

/

At the library, Belle moved her chair to be closer to Hook as he spoke, "He made me try something called Eggnog." Hook makes a weird face then, "And something called bologna which was just terrible."

Neal laughs at that, "She's drinking hot chocolate; obsessed with that stuff."

And it's probably the way Hook is eyeing her drink that Emma offers him the cup, and he takes it with a raised eyebrow. Looking once at her, he takes a tentative sip, his tongue coming out to wipe off the little that fell from the cup and it takes great control in Emma to not wipe away what fell from his lips.

"So?" Belle asks, all three of them awaiting the pirate's judgement on this.

"It's so sweet," he gives her the cup back, "Delicious though."

"We should have it sometimes at Granny's." Emma says, glancing quickly at Neal who just raises an eyebrow.

"Sure." Hook says quickly, then glances at Neal as well so is just staring at his muffin, "I'd love that."

Sensing the discomfort in the room, Belle quickly turns towards Emma, "So I've been meaning to ask you this Emma – I know you lived some time in Boston and while Neal here has told me all about New York, I want to know more about Boston."

Emma nods, "Boston." A wave of unpleasantness does crash on her as the place was once again just her trying to run and find someplace where she could feel even a bit at peace with herself. But its also the place where Henry came knocking on her door and changed her life forever.

"So there's this place called –"

The evening ends with them all still at the library, surrounded by Granny's take-out boxes which Neal and Hook had left to get while Emma showed Belle some pictures of her short trip to Florida.

~~xx~~

After a filling dinner with Belle, Neal, and Hook, Emma finds herself walking with Belle to the pawn shop; Neal and Hook deciding to head to the Jolly for some more drinking, an invitation that was extended to the ladies as well but after Belle declined, Emma did so too cause being in the same room with an ex, a maybe, and alcohol was probably not wise.

"Neal and Hook seem to be getting along well." Emma notes, watching Belle's lips lift in a sly smile.

"Yeah, it's quite weird isn't it? Good for the town however cause now Rumple knows not to hurt Hook. Or anyone for that matter." Belle gives Emma a look.

"Yeah, he's good." Emma reassures her, watching a huge grin break across Belle's face.

"You know spending time with Neal and Henry really helps. I'm seeing a side of Rumple that I've never seen before. Especially with Henry."

"I bet." Emma nods. She knows all too well how the presence of a child can change even the stubbornness of hearts'. "Regina's not too happy about that."

"Well they have history together. They'll be fine eventually."

"Hope so."

As they round up the corner towards the little flat where Belle and Rumple reside, Belle turns to face Emma, "Well this is me. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

"Oh no thank you. I should be heading to the station." Emma smiles politely.

"This was fun, we should do it again."

"Uh, ya, we should."

"You know I don't really have many friends around here. Since Ruby's left for the Enchanted Forest, the closest person I'm coming to calling a friend is surprisingly Hook." Belle rolls her eyes, "Much to Rumple's annoyance."

"I can imagine. Not only does he have to see his face everyday but also know that his girl is friends with him."

Belle laughs, "Strange custom of this world to call someone's acquaintance their 'girl'. Seems pretty improper."

Emma laughs, "Trust me there are worse things people call their significant other."

"Well, thank you Emma. I had a wonderful time today because of you."

"I did too."

Emma turns to leave but calls out to Belle once more, "If you ever need a friend…give me a call."

Belle smiles brightly at that, "I will! And same applies to you!"

~~xx~~

 _Gold and Neal_

"I literally had to convince Regina for this for 3 days so you better be careful." Emma warns Neal sternly as she packs the last of the pop tarts into Henry's bag.

Neal had visited Emma at the station asking if Henry could join him and Gold at Gold's cabin in the woods. Before Gold had betrayed Neal and sent him through a portal, both of them loved to take trips into the darkest of forests. Neal wanted to share this kind of trip with his own son too.

Emma was reluctant at first but Henry quickly wore her down and then after all Rumple-freaking-stilstkin would be with him so it's not like any threat could harm him.

"I'm gonna go grab the pop from the fridge, be right back, Ems."

"Neal" Emma stops him before he leaves, "For the millionth time could you stop calling me _Ems._ You know I hate it."

"You used to love it, c'mon just for old time's sake."

"No. And there's nothing between us or anything that I'd want for old time's sake."

Neal stares at her, his smile dropping in an instant. He rubs his forehead and makes a grunting sound before he speaks, "So we're really done, huh? No chances at reconciliation."

Emma shakes her head in disbelief, " _No."_

"I know, I know," he raises his hands in the air, "You've told me multiple times but I guess I just kept hoping for you to change your mind."

"I'm not going to Neal. I know you think you letting me go to prison was some sort of sacrifice but I don't see it that way. You were the first person I opened my heart up to Neal and you crushed it."

"Emma you know I had to let you go. You had to break the curse – you were the Saviour and I was in the way of your path."

"If there's anything I've learned from my parents' story is that you never give up on the people you love. And that you do everything and face every obstacle _together_." Emma clears her throat, disappointed that talking about Neal's abandonment still made her tear up. But that's just how deeply he hurt her. She loved him and he betrayed her.

Neal takes a step towards her, "You know, I know a thing or two about betrayal too. I truly did love Tamara."

"Then you know how I feel."

Neal blinks a few times as if he just had a revelation as he tried to understand Emma's feelings in context with how he felt about Tamara, "Right…I guess it's best for both of us to go our separate ways then."

"I've been telling you this for weeks now."

"I know, I know. Call me a hopeless romantic but I still kind of wished you would change your mind."

Emma rolls her eyes at that and takes a step back, crossing her arms.

Neal takes the hint and turns to leave but then turns back and walks back to her, "Listen, I hurt you and I'm sorry but don't close yourself up to the possibility of love again, Emma. After you, I was heartbroken too and now we know it was all false… but I truly did find love again with Tamara. You should find your Tallahassee, even if it is not with me."

Emma smiles at him and he smiles back. Despite all the crazy shit they've been through, he will still always be her first love and he deserves to move on too. She takes a step forward and hugs him, "I hope you find Tallahassee too."

/

Emma's playing candy crush on her phone, waiting for Henry to show up at Gold's pawn shop so she can say goodbye to him before the men leave for their weekend, when she hears someone sneak up behind her.

She's startled and almost jumps of her chair as she feels a body breathing behind her, "Gold! You scared me."

"A sheriff ought to be more aware of their surroundings, Miss Swan." Gold taunted her, his eyes glued on her phone's screen.

Emma rolls her eyes, "Whatever. Are you all ready? Henry should be here in no time."

"What is this?" Gold asks, pointing towards her phone.

"My phone?" Emma deadpans, "Did you hit your head or something?"

"I mean what's on the screen." He snarls.

"It's a game. Candy crush." Emma shrugs, "Why?"

"Nothing it looks rather interesting."

Emma narrows her eyes at the man. He's staring intently at her screen and his expression almost mirrors one that she's seen Henry have when he really wants apple pie.

"Do you want to try it?"

"To play a vacuous cell phone game? What do you think of me, Miss Swan? Absolutely _not_."

"Just try okay." She shoves the phone in his hand, "You have to match the matching candies in a line to cancel them…like this."

She shows him and is surprised when even before she can show him another, Gold himself lines up some of the green candies and watches them disappear.

"Ahhh." He nods to himself, "I see."

Gold takes a step away from Emma and continues playing, his face lighting up with every single match he makes.

Emma wants to scream or take a picture or video so can scream about this with someone as the freaking Dark One is literally playing candy crush and lighting up every time he manages to match a line.

The bell of the shop rings and an excited Henry enters. He eyes Rumple and once catches Emma's phone in his hands, asks, "What's grandpa doing?"

"Nothing." Gold shuts Emma's phone and hands it to her, his gaze towards her almost _pleading_.

Emma smirks, "Just showing your grandpa something. Your dad's at the back, help him stuff the pop!"

Once Henry scurries to the back, Gold turns towards Emma, "I appreciate your discretion."

Emma shrugs, "It's a guilty pleasure, I get it."

Gold looks really uncomfortable but after clearing his throat, speaks, "Belle told me that you spent three days convincing Regina to let Henry spend this weekend with us. I admire you trusting me and Baelfire with Henry." He pauses, "Thank you, Emma."

Emma's eyebrows raise so high she thinks her eyeballs might just drop out. "Uhhh," she shuts her mouth to stop from embarrassing herself. Probably the biggest dickhead and the most dangerous and powerful man she's ever met is thanking her. Gold…Gold who in her head would kick puppies is actually thanking her.

She remembers her list and thinks there's no better way to show Gold that she doesn't want him to die and that she does appreciate the kind of man he's slowly changing to be so she extends her hand to him, palm up. "Want me to download this game on your phone?"

She sees half of a smirk form on his face before he puts his phone in her hand, "Definitely."

~~xx~~

David sits beside Emma at the station, making her look up from the mountain of paperwork. He flips the cover open of the donut box and Emma catches not one, not two, but _three_ bear claws. She raises her eyebrows and takes one, taking a bite before she questions him, "What's the bribe for?"

David grins at that, not even trying to hide that this is indeed a bribe. "Remember how we were talking that we need an extra hand around here time to time? Between the paperwork and all the ridiculous distress calls, we don't get time to do normal patrols?"

"Yes?"

"So I hired someone. He will come in three days a week and either one of us can join him during the patrols while the other does the paperwork."

Emma would've normally appreciated David taking this effort to find someone but since David got her _three_ bear claws and is now not making eye contact with her, she's sure there's something there she is not going to like.

"Who is this _he_?"

David sighs, "Hook."

Emma stands up and crosses her arms, "You hired _Hook!_ "

"Listen I was having a beer with him yesterday and it just came up. He's more than happy to help!"

"We can't have a pirate join the police department, how would that look?" Emma tries to reason even though she knows her argument is weak and in a town full of fairytale characters, quite stupid.

"The town's mayor is literally the Evil Queen and the librarian's husband is the Dark One, I don't think titles matter. Anyways, we are not going to be prejudiced about people. Everyone here has gotten a second chance, Emma, and we have to make sure everyone gets to make the most out of it."

Emma sighs. She knows she's being ridiculous. And the reason for her resistance has nothing to do with the fact that Hook's a pirate but entirely to do with the fact that although she does see him every day, its usually for fleeting moments. This would mean that she would see him every day plus three _full_ days and maybe in even close proximities if they're the ones making the patrol.

It makes her nervous but it also excites her.

"He should be here in fifteen minutes. Be nice." David warns her and she just rolls her eyes.

Exactly in fifteen minutes, the pirate shows up, a bubbly grin on his face as he makes his greetings.

"You seem excited." Emma quips.

"Never thought I would be on the other side of the law working as a police officer under the royal prince and under a department which answers to the Evil Queen."

"A - the police department does not answer to Regina and, B – you'll technically be under me as I'm the Sheriff."

He takes a step towards her, biting his lip seductively before he speaks, "I would love to be _under_ you, Swan."

Emma's mouth parts open, his face _so_ close to her. She takes a split second decision where she decides to fuck with him as well – she's not the only one who can be all hot and flustered from this. She'll beat him at his own game. Plus it's been so long since he's flirted with her so unabashedly, she cannot let it go to waste.

Emma takes a step even closer to him, pushing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans so her chest is out. They're _so_ close now that Emma can smell his cologne and feel his hot breath over her lips. She takes pride in watching how his lips have now parted in surprise and his eyes can't decide between her eyes and lips. She tilts her head upwards, bumping their noses, before she whispers, "I thought you'd like me to be the one under so that when you jab me with your sword, I feel it."

Hook makes a sound which can only be described as a combination of a moan and grunt. Emma watches with delight as his cheeks turn red and he blinks a few times quickly to regain his focus or as she thinks – try to think of other probably gory things so his other regions don't embarrass him as due to their proximity, Emma would surely feel it.

A loud cough makes them both snap back from each other. Emma crossing her arms and Hook scratching behind his ear to mask their flusterdness. David looks at them both disappointingly before he turns to Emma, "Let's get started."

"Right." Emma clears her throat. She extends her hand towards Hook, "Hand me your bottle of rum."

"And why would I ever do that?" He says it with so much disbelief its almost comical.

"As a member of the police force, you cannot be travelling around with alcohol in your pocket."

"Excuse me, I assure you I would not drink while working." He looks at David for support who just shrugs.

"Great then you should have no problem with leaving it here."

When both of them just stare at each other – Emma with stubborn fierceness and Killian with utter disbelief, David finally steps in.

"Alright Hook, I'm with Emma on this. You can't have your flask on you while you're working. Just leave it on the desk and take it when you leave."

"Seems like I'm outnumbered." Hook rolls his eyes and hands Emma his flask.

"We'll start with patrol." David announces.

"Right." Hook grins, "Ready to set sail, Swan?"

Before Emma can even answer, David pushes Hook slightly, "You're coming with me pirate."

As Hook winks at Emma before following David out, all she can do is turn quickly to hide her smile.

~~xx~~


End file.
